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659
Description: Rectangular with complex quasi-arched rectangular top; ovolo moulded edging; shield with Royal arms of France in a cartouche; above, an English crown.
Notes: A different version of the fireback above. The combination of the English crown and French arms is common and may relate to the marriage of Charles I and Princess Henrietta Maria of France in 1625; probably the work of the same pattern maker. Many copies exist of this fireback.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Arms: French royal
- Decoration tags:
- complex quasi-arched (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- armorial
- royal
Manufactured: in the early to mid 17th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.
- Attached to series:
- Ornate border series
- Miscellaneous royal firebacks
- Anglo-French armorial firebacks
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666
Description: Inclined rectangle with ogee arch; fillet and ogee moulded edging; garter enclosing English Stuart royal arms, with supporters, helm, crest, mantling and motto.
Notes: Standard armorial design; the inclined shape is uncommon.
Inscription: [Garter motto illegible] DIEV ET MON DROIT
Arms: English Stuart royal
- Decoration tags:
- quasi-arched rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- armorial
- royal
- text
Manufactured: in the 17th century in England.
Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.
- Attached to series:
- Stuart royal armorial firebacks
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667
Description: Armorial within complex ovolo moulded edging (top and sides); quartered shield, helm, crest and mantling; plain panel below.
Notes: The arms can be identified from the first four quarters on the memorial to Raffe Maynard, d.1613, in St Albans Cathedral; quarterly, 1, Maynard: argent, a chevron azure between three sinister hands couped at the wrist gules; 2, Filleigh: gules, a fess vairy between six crosses formy or; 3, Harris/Hawes/Hewish: gules fretty argent a canton of the second; 4, Lyons: argent a chevron sable between three lions dormant coward gules; the crest, a stag statant, is of Maynard. The Maynards, originally from Devon, were a large family in Rotherfield, and Richard Maynard (d.1619) had an interest in Old Mill, Mayfield, as well as in Birchden forge, and probably Hamsell furnace. A larger fireback with the same arms, and probably by the same pattern maker, can also be seen.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Arms: Maynard
- Decoration tags:
- complex quasi-arched rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- armorial
Manufactured: in the late 16th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.
- Attached to series:
- Personal armorial firebacks
- Ornate border series
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668
Description: Arched rectangular shape with symmetrical floral scrolls on top; three horizontal plank lines; ovolo moulding all round edge of main panel; central figure of a bearded man wearing knee-length coat, belted at waist, and holding a sledge hammer in his right hand, his left arm akimbo; various ‘tools’ of his trade arranged about him; (clockwise from top left) a circular cartouche with a central bead; the date split on either side of his head; a floral console supporting a shelf bearing a flagon, a tankard and a goblet; a circular cartouche with a central bead, a mirrored image of the one in the top left corner; from the top of the cartouche a dog leaping up at its master; between the man’s legs a long-handled ladle, a weight and a cooking pot; a ringer, used to pull slag off molten iron; part of the elevation of a blast furnace, with wooden framework, casting house, and flames issuing from the top; an ore basket, wheelbarrow and a charcoal clamp.
Notes: A replica of the 1636 original, now often mistaken for it; the inscription is missing, as are the fireback and the shield each being replaced by a form of cartouche; the figure of the man is more naturalistically modelled, yet wearing similar clothes; his feet face outwards.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: 1639
- Decoration tags:
- quasi-arched rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- pictorial
- text
- humans
- objects
Manufactured: in the 18th century possibly in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Rottingdean Grange, Rottingdean, East Sussex, England.
(part of the Rottingdean Preservation Society museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Miscellaneous pattern firebacks
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1010
Description: Rectangular with ovolo-moulded edging; central oval shield of England (quarterly France modern and England) surrounded by the Garter with the additional word 'IL', and supported by a dragon on the dexter side and a greyhound on the sinister side, each standing on a plinth; to each side of the armorial group is a column with the upper part of the shaft fluted and the lower part foliate; each has an Ionic capital and a moulded pedestal; fire issues from the top of the capital.
Notes: The style of carving is not typical of English design but is similar to other firebacks bearing Tudor armorials that were probably cast in Germany.
Inscription: HONI SOIT IL QVI MAL Y PENSE
Arms: English royal Tudor (prob. Henry VIII)
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- armorial
- royal
Manufactured: in the mid 16th century possibly in the Eifel area of Germany.
Current location: in private hands, Butleigh, Somerset, England.
Citation: Carpentier, H., 1912, Plaques de Cheminées, Paris.
- Attached to series:
- Tudor royal armorial firebacks
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1099
Description: Rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging; raised central rectangular panel with inset stylised design of a rounded arch upon Ionic columns, the inside edge indented; at quarter angles outside the arch, two trefoils; within the arch, sequence of linked hollow strapwork rhomboids and circles; between the columns, a roundel with the internal edge indented; left of the central panel, 16 above upper-case M in low relief; right of the central panel, 56 above upper-case G in low relief.
Notes: An unusually small but well-preserved back with a stylised design. The style of the numerals, particularly the 6 and 5, can be seen on a larger fireback of 1653.
Inscription: 16 56 / M G
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- carved stamps
- whole carved pattern
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- architectural
- text
Manufactured: in 1656 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Avery Way, Tamar View Industrial Estate, Saltash, Cornwall, England.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
- 1650s Wealden series
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903
Description: Rectangular; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); date between split initials across upper half of plate; two notches cut away for insertion of firedogs.
Notes: The ‘6s’ appear to have been moulded from a type of jemmy.
Inscription: g 1669 P [reversed]
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
- objects
Manufactured: in 1669 possibly in the Weald area of England.
Current location: George & Dragon Inn, Speldhurst, Kent, England.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
- Andiron slot firebacks
- Metalware stamp firebacks
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829
Description: Rectangular; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); repeated guilloche pattern inside top and side edges; upper centre, lozenge stamp with ovolo edges and recessed daisy flower in centre, between buckle stamp repeated twice; the lozenge stamp is repeated over-stamping the lower part of the first.
Notes: The lozenge stamp is a design also seen on domestic interior panelling; the buckles suggest a Pelham family association; the buckle and lozenge are separate stamps, and in each example their relative positions differ slightly; the guilloche design appears to have been carved on the base panel; an example at The Star Inn, Alfriston, Sussex measures 665mm x 480mm.
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- carved stamps
- carved pattern panels
- heraldic
- objects
Manufactured: in the early to mid 17th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Iford, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Pelham family firebacks
- Pelham buckle and lozenge series
- Metalware stamp firebacks
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961
Description: Rectangular; ovolo-moulded edging on top and side edges; symmetrical layout of date and initials; date split between left and right sides, initials in centre, arranged in triad.
Notes: One of a series of backs dating to the 1730s and 40s using the same set of letters and numerals.
Inscription: 17 I M I 34
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
Manufactured: in 1734 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Titsey, Surrey, England.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
- 1730s-40s, date & initial series 1
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711
Description: Rectangular plate with plain ovolo-moulded edging, superimposed by a fireback with, on top, arched mirrored scrolls surrounding a scallop shell, and below, a conversational scene of a man and woman seated at a small table with a soldier standing to the right and a building and servant behind to the right.
Notes: A composite fireback presumably intended to extend the width of an existing small one; rivets repair a crack.
- Decoration tags:
- quasi-arched rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- carved pattern panels
- composite
- pictorial
- humans
Manufactured: in the early to mid 18th century in England.
Current location:.
- Attached to series:
- Late pictorial series (all)
- Composite firebacks
- Late pictorial series 4